SW250 Introduction to Social Welfare.

Each student is expected to expand their knowledge of what social workers do by visiting at least one social service agency, interviewing a social worker, and successfully completing a thirty-hour service learning experience in a human service agency. The thirty hours of volunteer field experience must be completed at one agency and is worth 40% of their final grade. Students are asked to volunteer for three hours a week for a period of ten weeks.

The aim of the clinic program is to improve the “total development” of children with disabilities by enhancing vital physical, motor, and aquatic skills and patterns. In addition, the program stresses the improvement of self-esteem of children by strengthening emotional-social aspects of their personalities through successful involvement in play, recreation, and sport activities.

Over one hundred students serve as clinicians and support staff each semester, making the CPDC the largest student organization on campus. Over the years, BSU students have determined that the CPDC not only augments their professional preparation but also, upon graduation, is most critical to them when seeking employment and entrance to graduate school.

In the Perspectives of the Holocaust course, which Dr, Hannon, Dr. Litvin, and I teach together, the students went into the Nichols Middle School in Middleboro with a project around lessons they learned from the course. One group did something on hate crimes; another on propaganda; another on bullying and anti-violence material.

Each group presented to a class of seventh or eighth graders and then returned to process their homework assignments and review what they learned. This is part of the curriculum which the social studies teacher coordinates and is presented throughout the team.

Margaret Johnson, Psychology, m9johnson@bridgew.edu

PSYC310 Social Psychology. In this class, we will explore the abundance of information in this broad and fascinating field, examining such topics as the myriad ways in which humans connect with one another, influence one another, and think about one another. We will also address the social sentiments that inevitably arise in human interaction, including emotions, aggression, altruism, cooperation, and a sense of morality and justice. In place of a research paper, students may complete 15 hours of community service at the Brockton VA Medical Center and submit an essay on their experience.

In Dance Ensemble, our advanced outreach performing group undertakes a service learning project called “Day with a Dancer,” which is a dance camp held on holidays. It is conducted when child care issues are difficult. The members of the class give dance classes and projects through the day, ending with a performance by the Ensemble and the children showing dances they learned that day.

The service learning activity is our “Dance Integration Festival” in connection with my THEA 453 Dance Methodology class. Each student works with an outside population to stage a dance that illustrates some academic concept that the students are learning. We then come together for a concert at the end of the semester to showcase the work we have done. Students have worked with Girl Scout groups, classrooms, and church groups to stage a wonderful variety of dances that illustrate course content from the schools.